> 85,000 call for Vieques peace
> Ivan Roman
> San Juan Bureau
>
> Published in The Orlando Sentinel on February 22, 2000 .
>
> SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Tens of thousands of people holding "Peace for
> Vieques" signs marched quietly in San Juan on Monday to tell President
> Clinton that bombing practice on Vieques must never resume and the U.S.
> Navy should leave once and for all.
>
> Religious leaders of every denomination in Puerto Rico called the march,
> which critics have repeatedly blasted as anti-American or separatist in
> nature. But organizers seemed to have proved them wrong.
>
> Politicians were there, but they didn't speak. Lots of union members were
> there, but they didn't chant slogans or sing and play hand-held drums as
> they usually do.
>
> Driven by their faith and the search for peace, members of the crowd,
> estimated by police at 85,000-plus, said their mere presence spoke
> volumes. Other estimates pushed the numbers past 100,000 people.
>
> "I truly have to say that this is the largest march I've seen," said
> Rep. Carlos Vizcarrondo of the opposition Popular Democratic Party,
> who joined the multitude crowding the six lanes of Luis A. Ferre
> Expressway near a popular shopping and financial district. "This is a
> thunderous silence that is going to reach the White House."
>
> The march organizers hope to influence Clinton, who is beginning to
> implement his directive issued Jan. 31. It allows the Navy to stay
> another three years with a reduced schedule of target practice using
> nonexplosive bombs.
>
> Although the Navy could leave its Vieques target range, considered its
> crown jewel for training in the Atlantic, by spring 2003, the protesters
> object to a resumption of any bombing.
>
> They also object to a referendum that will be held among the 9,300
> Vieques residents, asking them to choose between having the Navy leave
> after three years, or allowing it to stay indefinitely and use live
> ammunition as it has done since setting up the target range during
> World War II.
>
> If residents choose the latter, the community on Vieques would get $50
> million in economic development aid in addition to the $40 million it
> should get by the end of this year.
>
> Critics particularly object to the Navy's setting the date for the
> referendum and the language on the ballot. They say this is an effort
> to buy time, shower Vieques with money, and in essence buy votes at a
> time when Clinton will no longer be in the White House and Gov. Pedro
> Rossello will be out of office. At the least, protesters say, the
> referendum should be held immediately.
>
> In an emotional prayer at the end of the march, Bishop Alvaro Corrada
> del Rio, one of the island's top Roman Catholics, called the situation
> in Vieques a "cancer" that must be stopped now, telling the Navy to
> stop destroying the environment and clean up the toxic dump they have
> created.
>
> "Open our consciences, Holy Father, to your wisdom that tells us
> 'enough is enough,' " Corrada del Rio said.
>
> He said the right to life, health, and clean land and water should take
> precedence over the interest of those who play "political games" to
> further their careers and should not be sacrificed "for the convenience
> of those who prepare wars." He prayed that the strength of the crowd's
> presence and the prayers of many more listening to the event "opens the
> mind of President Clinton and the Congress of the United States to the
> justice of our position."
>
> The march took place three days after Rear Admiral Kevin Green arrived in
> Puerto Rico to serve as the Navy's liaison with Vieques. Rossello, who
> signed on to Clinton's directive, called the march unnecessary and
> blasted religious leaders for overstepping their bounds and interfering
> in politics.
>
> Resident Commissioner Carlos Romero Barcelo, Puerto Rico's nonvoting
> representative in Congress, said that the march -- backed by the two
> opposition parties in Puerto Rico -- was just a forum for separatists
> to exploit the issue and give the island a negative image in Washington.
>
> But that just inspired even more protesters -- some dressed as clowns or
> angels and including entertainers, singers, composers and just plain folk
> -- to come and be counted.
>
> "When the government turned its back on Vieques, it was the churches that
> picked up the struggle, and that's the position the church has taken
> before," said Damaris Cruz, 24, a social psychologist who is Roman
> Catholic. "That's why I'm here."